Jana Faber

Gender, Violence, and the Law: Legal Struggles in the Context of Femicides

I analyze legal struggles in the context of femicides as social struggles over the gender order, conducted with legal means. Based on the premise that gender, violence, and law co-constitute one another, I identify gaps in existing theoretical concepts and develop a feminist-materialist social theory analytical framework. In a case study, I also use court ethnographic methods to examine legal debates about femicides in Germany: How do different legal actors compete over the (legal) interpretation of these cases? Which notions of gender shape the debate? And which contradictions does the treatment under criminal law entail? My project examines the possibilities and limitations of (criminal-)law strategies in addressing femicides and thereby contributes to political science research on law and gender.